The dancers had been waiting for this moment for two years: put on their finery and twirl to the rhythm
of Johann Strauss ' unmissable
Blue Danube .
After the Covid parenthesis, the ball season is once again in full swing in Vienna.
And it is not without displeasing Deasy and Wahyuni.
These two Indonesians living in Austria, very elegant in their long dresses, stamped with impatience when they arrived on January 13 at the Flower Ball, one of the most famous of the 450 or so that animates the capital each winter.
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“We love coming here
,” enthused the two women, aged 46 and 50 respectively, in front of the riot of colors.
In the majestic neo-Gothic building of the town hall, 2,400 guests crowd into a dazzling decor of arrangements... made up of 100,000 flowers.
"The atmosphere is special"
, offering a taste of "spring" in the grayness of January, summarizes Peter Hucik, artistic director of the ball.
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A strong comeback
For two years, the famous Viennese balls could not take place.
The dancers were therefore numerous this Friday, January 13, to attend the 99th Bal des Fleurs, one of the most famous in the Austrian capital.
Alex HALADA / AFP
This tradition dates back to the 18th century when Habsburg court balls ceased to be reserved for the aristocracy alone.
The Viennese have taken over the customs and etiquette associated with these festivals.
Ball of hunters, cafe managers, confectioners, each trade, but also each coterie, each district has its event, from the most eccentric to the most prestigious, the Opera ball, scheduled for February 16.
Forgotten the Covid-19 pandemic, the crowd is there.
"Balls are making a strong comeback,"
says Markus Griessler, responsible for tourism at the Chamber of Commerce.
Despite a high price (from 55 to 180 euros for the Flower Ball for example), ticket sales are going
“extremely well”
and several dates are already sold out.
Vienna even hopes to break the 2019/20 record, counting on 170 million euros in revenue (against 152 million previously), or 320 euros spent on average per ball and per person.
From hotels to gastronomy, from designers to hair salons, the sector is rubbing its hands after the recent food shortage.
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2,400 guests took part in the Bal des Fleurs on January 13, 2023, which took place in Vienna's town hall.
ALEX HALADA / AFP
A season modeled on the Christian calendar
"One in three Viennese aged 15 and over plans to attend a ball this year"
, compared to only one in four in 2019, specifies Markus Griessler, not counting the many participants who come especially from abroad.
In these gloomy times,
"people clearly want to travel and dance"
, abounds Norbert Kettner, director of the city's Tourist Office, who himself has listed three evenings on his agenda and is inexhaustible on the subject.
The season, which peaks in January and February, is historically
“more or less modeled on the Christian calendar,”
he explains.
It thus ends just before Ash Wednesday, a symbolic representation of sin and the fragility of man.
The opportunity to purify oneself after a practice that was not to the taste of the Catholic Church:
"to waltz in such an intimate way with one's rider was close to indecency"
, says Norbert Kettner with a smile.
Far from these concerns of another age, Emma Kennedy, 17, and her partner Luca Stamenov, opened proud - and a little nervous - the 99th edition of the Flower Ball.
Alongside other "beginners" in white dresses and black tuxedos, they had only one idea in mind: to dance to the rhythm and above all not to let the bouquet escape.